'Disgraceful' parking leaves village gridlocked

Residents of a picturesque village in the Yorkshire Dales have described the parking behaviour of tourists over the bank holiday weekend as "disgraceful" .

People living in Burnsall, near Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, said the high numbers of parked cars on narrow lanes and roads had caused "chaos" and meant the village was partially gridlocked at times.

A bus company was forced to divert services from the village and the emergency services would have struggled to get access, according to the chair of the parish council.

It comes as North Yorkshire's Public Safety Service recently launched a survey to better understand the impact of visitor numbers on local communities.

"It was disgraceful," said Ed Williams, the chair of the parish council.

"Monday was partially gridlocked, you couldn't get an emergency vehicle into the village. We were totally locked out."

He said a large team of local volunteers in yellow bibs tried to direct traffic but it had been "hard work".

"It's parking on double yellow lines, the hill out of Burnsall is about quarter of a mile long with room for two cars but not when one side is full of parked cars as it becomes a one-way system.

"The same on the Grassington road, random parking and abandoned cars. It just creates chaos."

He said one letter he had received from a resident, who is a carer, said it was impossible to carry out her daily tasks.

"They give up, they feel intimidated, they try to keep the road clear outside their house, but they get verbal abuse," said Williams.

"We did have an ambulance come down on Tuesday and it struggled to get through due to the parked cars."

Williams said it was not just a problem for Burnsall but many other locations in the Dales.

More than 50 fines were handed out at Richmond Falls due to what police described as "inconsiderate and dangerous" parking over the weekend.

DalesBus which runs the 874 service through Burnsall had to divert on Monday.

It said it was sorry to inconvenience people but if it had attempted to drive through the village "it was likely to have been delayed by several hours and added to the already chaotic situation on the roads".

The firm and Williams would like to see stronger parking enforcement especially during good weather and at peak times such as bank holidays.

Williams said seeing officers might be enough to eventually persuade people that taking the risk of a ticket was not worth it.

Skipton and Ripon MP Sir Julian Smith said Wharfedale benefited from a "strong tourism economy".

However, he said he was concerned to hear reports over the weekend from Burnsall and Grassington "about inconsiderate parking preventing access for buses and emergency vehicles, as well as litter and barbecues being left behind".

He said the North Yorkshire Public Safety Service - comprising North Yorkshire Police, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, and local health services - was gathering feedback to "help inform how these challenges are managed in the future".

The MP said he hoped people in Wharfedale would participate so the authorities "fully understand the impact and respond appropriately".

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